The silly TSA still cant get it right

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Fliers aren't giving thanks for fickle TSA rules, screeners

Thousands of infrequent fliers will take to the skies this Thanksgiving week, giving the government's latest rules for what can be carried on board an unparalleled stress test. A word of warning: Be prepared.

Since a plot to bomb jetliners with liquid explosives was broken up in London last August, flying has proved a little less convenient and a lot more confusing.

Initially, liquids and gels in carry-ons were banned. With passengers carrying less, they got through inspections and boarding quicker, but plenty complained about being left without toothpaste, cosmetics and such.

So in September, the Transportation Security Administration relaxed the rules, allowing fliers to carry on 3-ounce containers of toiletries, liquids and cosmetics in a 1-quart plastic bag. That made travel more convenient but also more confusing. The rules are so complicated that they aren't applied consistently.

Some curious results have followed.

Last Wednesday, according to dotcom executive Sandra Jerez, screeners at New York's LaGuardia Airport confiscated two 3-ounce bottles of breast milk she wanted to carry on board. She had pumped the milk while on a business trip to take home to her 5-month-old son.

The New York screeners were wrong. As long as the milk was in the right size bottles, it should have been allowed.

Also wrong was the advice Jerez received earlier in the day from screeners at Washington's Reagan National. They said the answer would depend on the screeners' discretion.

"The rules should be the rules," Jerez said. "Shouldn't they?"

Absolutely. Fliers can live with restrictions, but only if they can understand what the restrictions are.

Also this month, computer instructor Gene Henriksen was told that he couldn't carry on 2-ounce unmarked bottles of toiletries at airports in Newport News, Va., and Atlanta because the bottles weren't labeled. That's incorrect.

When Henriksen called the TSA's helpline, he was told it was "up to the local agent."

Wrong, again.

While TSA screeners must make judgment calls - and fliers must comply - screeners should be reading from the same playbook, and that playbook needs to be simple enough that it's easily understood............

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20061121/...arulesscreeners